how to run virtual machine on bootup headless in windows server 2019

[daviddrell]

I have a VM with an unbuntu guest OS running on a windows server 2019 host OS.

I want the VM to run headless when the host server boots, with no user login required.

The VM is setup with an IP port forward tunnel such that, from the external network, a user can access port 80 

on the host machine and this is forwarded to the guest OS in the VM.

What is the correct way to do this?

[wila]

Hi,

Running headless you can get away with using vmrun from a boot script.

See:

https://wiki.vi-toolkit.com/index.php?title=Vmrun

and use the "start nogui" option.

Put that in a script that runs on boot.

The problem is what the VM should do on shutdown/restart of the host ...

Alternatively you could use my product vimarun (link can be found at the page above), but that isn't a free solution.

edit: Completely forgot.. you're not mentioning your VMware Workstation version.

If you are on Workstation 15 or earlier then you can use the "Shared Virtual Machines" option to auto-start a VM. (Doesn't take shutdown of a host into account though)

--
Wil